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Abstract By combining scholarship on modernity, urbanization and territory, this paper analyses how urban-based visions and ambitions have been realized in hydropower development and specific water access and control arrangements in the Rímac watershed in Lima, Peru. The discourses that sustained and promoted hydropower plant construction and associated development projects in the watershed are scrutinized, showing how the dream of conquering nature through engineers' technical skills was enmeshed with political agendas and visions of modernizing not only nature, but also people. Besides the historical analysis, the paper also explores how historical physical-ecological, legal, social and symbolic reconfigurations continue to shape hydrosocial relations between the city of Lima and the Rímac watershed. Analysing the current management of the watershed's highland lakes and community water use from the hydropower company's tunnels shows how the history of the Rímac is not a clear cut story of water deprivation but rather of complex, entangled, multidimensional relations and dependence. In the context of increasing pressure on water resources, the socio-territorial arrangements and the watershed's history itself are becoming matters of discussion. Highlights • Explores urban modernization as a territorial project. • Analyses how hydropower development was shaped by modern civilizing visions. • Shows how today's water governance is rooted in the Rímac watershed's historical geography. • Studies how growing competition for water leads to contestations over history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern rivers of Peru originate in the Andes Mountains and flow in a southwestern direction to the Pacific Ocean through one of the most hyper-arid regions of the world. During each sub-equatorial summer from December to February, rains and snow melt in the Andes increase the streamflow in these rivers, even as they pass through the 100 km arid zone to the ocean. This study quantified seasonal dynamics of 34 trace metal elements (TM) and other constituent concentrations in four southern river basins of Peru (Chili-Quilca, Tambo, Camana-Majes-Colca, and Ocoña) during 2019–2020. Consistent with previous studies, we observed that: (1) the river water in the southern basins had relatively high concentrations of B, As, Fe, Al, Mn, P, Pb and Ni, with As the most ubiquitous toxic TM in all the basins, often detected at concentrations surpassing Peruvian and USEPA regulated concentrations; and (2) basins with the most to least toxic TM contamination were the Tambo > Chili-Quilca > Camana-Majes-Colca > Ocoña. Seasonal streamflow strongly influenced the concentrations of twenty TM, with 15 TM (Al, Au, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Gd, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Ti, Yb and Zr) consistently higher in the wet season, and with As, B, Ge, Li, and Pd higher in the dry season. Our results improve the understanding of seasonal variability and vulnerability in western Andes superficial water sources, which are highly influenced by both local geogenic and anthropogenic conditions. A Spanish translation of this paper is available in the online Supplementary Material. [Display omitted] • Arsenic is the most ubiquitous contaminant in surface waters of Southern Peru. • Al, Fe, As, B, Mn, P, Pb, and Ni exceeded the Peruvian water quality regulation. • Out of 34 metals studied, 14 showed a strong seasonal behavior (e.g., As, Pb and B). • Total recoverable metals trended better rather than dissolved metal with season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Botanical data elucidate plant use under Inka and Spanish rule in the Andes. • Plant availability was stable under Inka and Spanish rule, but land use practices changed changed. • Agrarian workers ensured persistence by altering plant procurement practices. • By doing so, those workers participated in regional ecological change. In the Andes, successive waves of Inka and Spanish imperialism reshaped local ecologies and transformed agricultural practices between the 14th and 17th centuries. As the Inka (ca. 1450–1532CE) consolidated control over the region they co-opted existing resources, directed the development of new farmland, and imposed new labor obligations on Andean people. In turn, Spanish colonizers (1533-1824CE) introduced foreign flora and fauna, created new tributary regimes, and reorganized agricultural production around forcibly resettled communities and Spanish-owned haciendas (agrarian estates). In this paper, we explore how agricultural workers managed this extended period of upheaval through analysis of botanical data from recent excavations at the site of Simapuqio-Muyupata, in Peru's Cusco region. We track how agriculturalists living at the site altered patterns of plant use—and, by extension agricultural practice—across the period of Inka and Spanish Colonial governance. These farmers remained reliant on a similar suite of cultivated plants under both political regimes, but shifted practices of land management to conserve labor when confronted with the structural conditions of servitude to Spanish landlords. By altering agricultural practices, these agriculturalists re-shaped the agroecological context in which they lived and worked to ensure survival in the face of political upheaval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Shell horn production for Andean rituals shifted between conch and ceramic over millennia. • In the early colonial period shell horns were used in propitiatory pilgrimages. • Ceramic shell horns were complex musical instruments crafted by itinerant specialists. • Technological hotspots indicate independent invention and long-distance interaction. • Performance in ensembles shaped the soundscapes of ceremonial centers. This paper addresses the enchainment of skills and interactions for the production of ceramic shell horns, and the meaning of these musical instruments whose sounds have shaped the ritual soundscapes of the central Andes since the boom in public architecture in the second millennium BC (early Formative Period c. 3800–3300 BP). Linguistic and ethnohistoric reviews shed light on performance practices and meanings at the time of conquest. Contextual analysis of thin sections of ceramic shell horns excavated in Keushu (Yungay, Ancash, Peru) and dated to the Early Intermediate Period and early Middle Horizon (c. 2200–1600 BP) suggests the agency of specialist itinerant potters. Crafting processes are reconstructed by bringing together material analysis (petrography, X-ray tomography, X-ray diffraction), bioarchaeology, studies of instrument organology, and ceramic ethnoarchaeology. Informed by experimental reconstruction distinct modeling techniques are distinguished and crossed with available provenience data to suggest three independently arising traditions or hotspots in northern Ecuador, on the central Andean coast, and in the highlands of northern Peru. The ritual sounds and soundscapes of the latter area are discussed. Like earlier conch horns, ceramic shell horns played a pivotal part in ritual performances that accompanied the development of irrigation-dependent agrarian and pastoral lifeways in the Andes. Enduring symbolic linkages between shell horn sounds, the sea and irrigation water may indeed represent a powerful embodiment of the voice of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Forty bone wind instruments (aerophones) produced from camelids and condors were recovered from La Real, Arequipa. • Recreating a chaîne opératoire can illustrate the way these instruments were produced and played by all members of society. • Use of these instruments is abandoned in the later Middle Horizon overlapping with Wari expansion into the region. • Condor and camelid bone related to the symbolism of Andean mobile agropastoral communities and gender complementarity. • Cessation of making and playing these bone instruments attests to shifting ideologies about musical experiences. Musical performance and audience participation are important activities in both group celebrations and funerary practices. This paper considers the intersection of music and ritual in shifting local mortuary traditions during state expansion in the southern Peruvian Andes. It addresses musical activities and burial rites during the Middle Horizon (MH) (600–1000 CE), a period defined by social change, population expansion and greater influence of the Wari state. We present new evidence for shifting sound-making practices from the site of La Real in the Majes Valley of Arequipa. We mobilize morphological and acoustic analyses to determine the variation in instrument production and the likely idiosyncratic ways that participants played these objects. There is a musical tradition of manufacturing wind instruments from animal bone in the early MH (600–850 CE) followed by abandonment of these practices in the late MH (850–1000 CE). We suggest this shift correlates to a higher valuation of formalized acoustic aesthetics over collective instrument production and group musical performance. Instead of playing their own instruments at mortuary events, communities listened to music as spectators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the leading global source of mercury pollution. Efforts to reduce or eliminate mercury use in ASGM have produced limited results, in part because they do not engage the complex socio-technical nature of mercury issues in ASGM. The paper takes a multidisciplinary approach to understand the mercury issue with a socio-technical lens, pairing sampling of mercury in soils with surveys of miners' and residents' perceptions of mercury pollution and its dispersion. The research was conducted in Secocha, an ASGM boomtown in southern Peru. Mercury levels in soils exceeded relevant standards in both industrial zones (average of 72.6 mg/kg, versus the Peruvian standard of 24 mg/kg) and residential/urban zones (average of 9.5 mg/kg, versus the Peruvian standard of 6.6 mg/kg). Mercury levels were highest where processing and gold buying activity were concentrated. Surveys revealed that miners and residents correctly assumed mercury pollution to be highest in those areas. However, respondents seemed to underestimate the extent of mercury pollution in other parts of town, and many believed that only those who handle mercury directly were affected by it. Respondents also placed low priority on reducing mercury pollution. Miners' and residents' partial knowledge about mercury contamination and the low priority accorded to the issue suggest that mercury reduction efforts would likely be met with indifference and potentially resistance. • Soil mercury levels on average exceed Peruvian standards in both industrial and urban zones of Secocha. • Concentrations are highest near processing areas and gold shops where mercury-gold amalgam is burned. • Surveys reveal residents' knowledge about mercury contamination, especially near processing areas. • Survey respondents underestimate mercury exposure in other parts of town and for those who do not handle it directly. • Mercury pollution is a low priority concern for miners and residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the leading global source of mercury pollution. Efforts to reduce or eliminate mercury use in ASGM have produced limited results, in part because they do not engage the complex socio-technical nature of mercury issues in ASGM. The paper takes a multidisciplinary approach to understand the mercury issue with a socio-technical lens, pairing sampling of mercury in soils with surveys of miners' and residents' perceptions of mercury pollution and its dispersion. The research was conducted in Secocha, an ASGM boomtown in southern Peru. Mercury levels in soils exceeded relevant standards in both industrial zones (average of 72.6 mg/kg, versus the Peruvian standard of 24 mg/kg) and residential/urban zones (average of 9.5 mg/kg, versus the Peruvian standard of 6.6 mg/kg). Mercury levels were highest where processing and gold buying activity were concentrated. Surveys revealed that miners and residents correctly assumed mercury pollution to be highest in those areas. However, respondents seemed to underestimate the extent of mercury pollution in other parts of town, and many believed that only those who handle mercury directly were affected by it. Respondents also placed low priority on reducing mercury pollution. Miners' and residents' partial knowledge about mercury contamination and the low priority accorded to the issue suggest that mercury reduction efforts would likely be met with indifference and potentially resistance. • Soil mercury levels on average exceed Peruvian standards in both industrial and urban zones of Secocha. • Concentrations are highest near processing areas and gold shops where mercury-gold amalgam is burned. • Surveys reveal residents' knowledge about mercury contamination, especially near processing areas. • Survey respondents underestimate mercury exposure in other parts of town and for those who do not handle it directly. • Mercury pollution is a low priority concern for miners and residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The western Lake Titicaca basin is marked by above-ground funerary towers, known as chullpas, located in a variety of geographical contexts and dating to the Late Intermediate Period, or LIP (AD 1100–1450), and Late Horizon (AD 1450–1532). Over the years, interpretations of these tombs have concentrated upon their roles as loci for ancestral veneration and their abilities to perpetuate memory, delineate social ties and territories, and demarcate access to resources. These views share the implicit or explicit assumption that these mortuary structures were intended to be highly visible. Yet this assumption has never been formally tested. By using GIS-based geospatial tools and statistical analysis, this paper investigates the extent to which chullpas surveyed in the western Lake Titicaca basin visually dominated the landscape. These tombs were not positioned in random locations; they exhibit a high degree of clustering and were built in highly visible areas that could be seen from sites of occupation and regions of economic importance such as Lake Umayo. This paper suggests that this landscape of death was deliberately constructed to have an enduring social impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change adaptation measures can generate long-term unintended consequences, as this paper demonstrates through an empirical case study of water conflicts at Lake Parón in Peru's Cordillera Blanca mountain range. This decade-long struggle culminated in 2008 when a coalition of local groups (stakeholders) from the Cruz de Mayo and Caraz communities in the Callejón de Huaylas seized control of the Lake Parón reservoir from a private multinational corporation, Duke Energy. This clash over Parón's water in the Llullán and Santa River watersheds emerged much earlier than climatic-hydrologic models had predicted, and it occurred, this paper argues, largely because of previously successful climate adaptation measures. The drainage tunnel and floodgates originally installed at Parón in the 1980s to prevent a climate-related outburst flood led to unintended or perverse outcomes because these technological artifacts subsequently allowed a diversity of stakeholders--including rural subsistence farmers, urban residents, national park officials, tourism promoters, the state energy company Electroperú, and Duke Energy--to manage water differently depending on their priorities and the existing governance structures. Neoliberal reforms that altered state-society-environment relations in Peru played a key role in these changing stakeholder power dynamics that were reflected in the management of water infrastructure at Parón. Examining this water conflict that emerged from the unintended effects of climate adaptation demonstrates not only how technology and society are mutually constitutive, but also why the politics of technologies must be considered more carefully in the analysis of social-ecological systems, hydro-social cycles, and climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents new data from Abric Romaní, a key site in the region of Catalunya, northeastern Iberia, which is central to discussions of the transition between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Until now, the Mid-Upper Paleolithic transition had been dated at the site through samples from the remaining baulk sections of levels A and B (typologically classified as ‘earliest Aurignacian’ and Mousterian, respectively) at the rear of the rockshelter, which were left from excavations in the late 1900s and early 1910s. We dated samples of bone and charcoal from these remnant sections with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) methods. We also analysed several humanly-modified artefacts (bone points and perforated shells) excavated from other areas of the same layers. From the initial series, we obtained ages of c. 20 ka BP (thousands of years before present); much younger than expected if they indeed dated to the early Upper Palaeolithic. We sampled additional material to test the robustness of these initial ages, and older determinations that were more comparable with the chronology outlined by resulted. All of the old and new results have been compared in a Bayesian model using the new INTCAL09 14C calibration dataset. The results appear to confirm the suggestion of some researchers (e.g., ) that there was no Aurignacian in the north of Iberia until c. 36,500 BP. The chronometric model shows a good level of agreement between the radiocarbon and U-series chronologies previously obtained, and the new results published in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports new data on qocha ponds from the Rio Pucara–Azángaro interfluvial zone, northern Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru. Qocha are a little known form of Andean agriculture that developed around 800–500 B.C. and remain in use today. Prior estimates suggested that in the study area, there were more than 25,000 qocha. While most Andean sunken beds are excavated to reach groundwater, qocha are rain-fed ponds. How these rain-fed ponds functioned has been an open question, but one that is answered in part by research presented in this paper. We suggest that a thick impermeable stratum of clay that was possibly deposited by paleolake “Minchin” created a perched water table that makes rain-fed qocha reservoir agriculture possible. Field geology shows that within the study area, this stratum only exists under Terrace E. Based on this model, we hypothesized that persistently used qocha should only be found on Terrace E. To test this hypothesis we used remotely sensed data to inventory qocha and to determine their distribution by each terrace present. We identified 11,737 qocha. By area 93.77% and by count 94.33% of the qocha are located on Terrace E. These results strongly supported our hypothesis. This case study illustrates that the long term viability of this form of agriculture is made possible by a physical context that is beyond human control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes the 3D modelling of Pinchango Alto, Peru, based on a combination of image and range data. Digital photogrammetry and laser scanning allow archaeological sites to be recorded efficiently and in detail even under unfavourable conditions. In 2004 we documented Pinchango Alto, a typical site of the hitherto poorly studied Late Intermediate Period on the south coast of Peru, with the aim of conducting spatial archaeological analyses at different scales. The combined use of a mini helicopter and a terrestrial laser scanner, both equipped with a camera, allowed a fast yet accurate recording of the site and its stone architecture. In this paper we describe the research background, the 3D modelling based on different image and range data sets, and the resulting products that will serve as a basis for archaeological analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores the Spanish construction of geographical knowledges of sixteenth and early seventeenth century Peru and, in doing so, draws attention to their diversity. It is argued here that there is a need for greater inclusiveness when studying the production of colonial geographical knowledges. An exclusive focus on official geographies of the empire can produce only a partial understanding of European perceptions of colonised territories, as the perceptions of colonisers, and their physical engagement with those territories, often bore little relation to the visions of the empire that were put together in the metropolis. First, this paper traces the construction, in Spain's Council of the Indies, of an imperial geography of America that represented the New World as a space in which European social and political hierarchies had been implanted and pre-colonial geographies consigned to history. It then considers the way in which this vision was undermined in Peru not only by the persistence of pre-Hispanic understandings of territory, but also by the actions and concerns of the colonisers themselves. In doing so, it contributes to recent endeavours to counter the metropolitan bias that is apparent in much of the work on Spanish colonial geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New radiocarbon dates from area II of the Rapayán site confirm the Late Intermediate Period origin of surface stone architecture, notably house structures and multi-story buildings. • Centrally located above-ground and tall multi-storied tombs housed specific founding ancestors within residential settlements. • Selected families constructed their house structures at the foot of some multi-storied tombs and thereby monopolized access to the community's mummified founding ancestors. • Political authority was legitimized through privileged interactions among high status individuals and primordial ancestors. • The data presented evidence more individualized expressions of political authority as opposed to corporate forms of governance documented elsewhere in the Andes at the same time. This paper addresses the cosmological foundations of political authority in the Rapayán-Tantamayo region of the highlands of Peru during the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1450 CE). The people of this region organized their residential settlements around large and elaborate multi-storied tombs where mummified founding ancestors dwelled. The evidence presented reveals that selected families at each settlement built their houses at the foot of these above-ground tombs. By doing so, they controlled the access to the communities' founding ancestors who were thought to hold cosmological vitalizing energy necessary for the reproduction of the collectivity. Using ethnohistorical analogy, I argue that the heads of such households, through privileged interactions with potent deceased, acted as intermediaries between the life-giving force of primordial ancestors and the well-being of their community. The manifestations of political authority built around the relationship of specific individuals with powerful ancestors represent one of the main contributions of this investigation as the relational agency among these protagonists has proven difficult to identify in the archaeological record elsewhere in the Andean highlands. The results of our investigation therefore contrast with interpretations emphasizing the collective agency of "ancestors" in the legitimization processes of depersonalized cooperate political authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we characterize the production and circulation of Early Green Glazed (EGG) Ware, an innovative variety of lead-glazed ceramics produced in Peru's North Coast region in the wake of the Spanish colonization of the Andes. INAA of pastes and LA-ICP-MS of glazes of EGG Ware samples collected from sites in Peru's Zaña, and Chicama river valleys reveal contrasting patterns of composition. While paste characterization via INAA identified a great deal of compositional diversity, LA-ICP-MS data from glazes falls into two discrete groups. We interpret these results as evidence of 1) disperse production of pastes, employing either a wide variety of source materials and/or recipes, mirroring the production of Late Prehispanic paddle-stamped wares, and 2) more nucleated collection of materials for glaze production, perhaps from distinct sources of lead ore. We interpret the presence of small numbers of samples with glaze compositions characteristic of the Zaña valley in Chicama Valley assemblages as evidence of possible trade between indigenous communities in artisanal goods and/or raw materials during the late 16th century CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kamayoq are promoted as culturally appropriate drivers of ethnodevelopment in the Peruvian Andes. Kamayoq have existed for centuries under different forms of political-economic organization, including as agricultural experts (in irrigation, animal husbandry, or agricultural techniques), craft specialists (skilled weavers), and privileged administrators (accountants for Inka nobility). Today, kamayoq are conceived as community-based specialists within government and non-government programmes of farmer-to-farmer technical extension. In this paper 1 address the shortcomings of research into the kamayoq, whereby historical scholarship has been subsumed within broader narratives of the Inka state, and contemporary scholarship has suffered from a lack of historic perspective, thereby romanticizing pre-Hispanic, indigenous institutions. I develop a historical analysis of the role of kamayoq within processes of political-economic integration according to distinct modes of production and under different forms of governance, addressing pre-lnka hydro-pastoralism, Inka governance, Hispanic colonialism, and contemporary development networks. Kamayoq did not spring from the ground fully formed (like autochthons); their role as agents of political-economic integration and livelihood change has shifted according to broader trends and pressures in production, governance, exchange, and redistribution. Their role has always been spatially variable, meaning that we cannot assume an internal coherence to indigenous institutions. We need critical, reflexive, and temporal analyses of these historically embedded forms of social practice if they are to be mobilised in ways that do not simply resort to categorical difference-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nasca culture (AD 1-650) located on the south coast of Peru has been interpreted in many ways since it was first investigated by Max Uhle in 1901. Scholars have described it as a middlerange society, heterarchy, simple chiefdom, confederacy, paramount chiefdom, theocracy, state, and empire. This paper explores past interpretations of Nasca and presents data from the site of La Tiza in the southern Nasca drainage. The evidence from La Tiza indicates that population was larger and settlements were more variable than has previously been proposed for southern Nasca. In addition, there are indications of a greater degree of social differentiation and ritual activities not previously identified at other sites in the area. This has implications for the overall integration and complexity of the Nasca culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Illegal excavations represent one of the main risks which affect the archaeological heritage all over the world. They cause a massive loss of artefacts but also, and above all, a loss of the cultural context, which makes the subsequent interpretation of archaeological remains very difficult. Remote sensing offers a suitable chance to quantify and analyse this phenomenon, especially in those countries, from Southern America to Middle East, where the surveillance on site is not much effective and time consuming or non practicable due to military or political restrictions. In this paper we focus on the use of GeoEye and Google Earth imagery to quantitatively assess looting in Ventarron (Lambayeque, Peru) that is one of most important archaeological sites in Southern America. Multitemporal satellite images acquired for the study area have been processed by using both autocorrelation statistics and unsupervised classification to highlight and extract looting patterns. The mapping of areas affected by looting offered the opportunity to investigate such areas not previously systematically documented. To this purpose Ground Penetrating Radar prospections were conducted in some looted sites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Before the arrival of the Spaniards in Peru in 1532, many different societies flourished in the coastal desert of southern Peru. Of these, one of the best known is the Nasca culture (living in the area between about 260 cal BC and 640 cal BC.), which created the famous geoglyphs on the desert floor. In this paper we present a numerical chronology for the cultural development in the valleys of Palpa, in the northern part of the Nazca region, which spans the time from the Archaic Period (starting there around 3760 cal BC) to the Late Intermediate Period (terminating with the arrival of the Spaniards in 1532 AD). The chronology is based on more than 150 14C samples collected by our project from well-documented archaeological excavations of 17 different sites in and around Palpa. Thanks to the advanced AMS-14C dating technique, demanding only few milligrams of organic material, we could focus on samples of plants, like beans, corn, or reed, representing single years of growth or use, and also on delicate materials like straw from clay bricks (adobe) and textiles. All single 14C dates were combined to cultural phases using a Bayesian statistical model, implementing the a priori information of the archaeological contexts, and adopting the relative ceramic chronologies available for this area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Religiously motivated cooperation in the form of pilgrimage is a neglected element in discussions of the dynamics of cooperative behavior among humans. In this paper, we invoke costly signaling theory to propose how pilgrimage centers emerge in some contexts. On one hand, as has been suggested by other scholars, monumental centers are costly signals of the authority and influence of competing centers’ leadership, which can include the leaders’ influence over supernatural forces. We argue that equally important is the pilgrimage itself, which serves as a costly signal of the pilgrims’ commitment to the religious system and the beliefs and values associated with it; this in turn facilitates cooperation and other prosocial behaviors among pilgrims who otherwise might be strangers. To explore the utility of this approach to pilgrimage, we compare Chaco Canyon in the US Southwest and Cahuachi in the Nasca region of Peru, two prestate sociocultural settings in which pilgrimage was an important component in maintaining cooperation, group cohesion, and identity. While specific patterns are distinct in each society, we argue that pilgrimage had a significant impact in the development of both prosocial behavior and religious leadership in Chaco and Nasca. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines bioarchaeological evidence of violence and traumatic injury on subadult skeletal remains from two Late Horizon (A.D. 1470–1540) cemeteries within the archaeological zone of Puruchuco-Huaquerones, Peru. Here we present the frequency and types of traumatic lesions on the 242 subadults analyzed. We observed significant increases in the frequency of subadult trauma, particularly among the burials associated with Spanish Conquest. Specifically, we noted a statistically significant increase in the frequency of cranial trauma in a subsample of individuals from one of two cemeteries at the site, 57AS03. These perimortem cranial injuries suggest an intensification of violence and lethality that may have affected the children from this community. We then discuss the biocultural implications of this analysis within the context of Spanish invasion and conquest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we report on Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of a sample of ceramics from Nasca, Peru collected by Alfred Kroeber in the 1920’s and curated at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The analysis was conducted for two principal reasons: (1) to test the efficacy of LA-ICP-MS when compared to INAA; and (2) to evaluate samples that post-date Early Nasca (where focus has primarily been placed). We show here that LA-ICP-MS is a viable alternative to INAA, present some of the compositional variability in the Kroeber samples, and propose some explanations for this variability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The detection of buried earthen structures by using remote sensing techniques is still an open issue and a strategic challenge as crucial as it is complex. It is crucial because earthen archaeological remains are widely present thoughtout the world (in South America, Asia, Africa) and it is complex due to the subtle physical contrast between earthen remains and the surrounding subsoil. This paper presents the results from investigations based on Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery (2002, 2005, 2008), geomagnetic surveys (November 2008) and Ground Probing Radar (GPR) (April 2008), we conducted on a mound named Piramide Naranjada. It is located in Cahuachi (Nasca, Southern Peru), the largest adobe Ceremonial Centre in the World. The studies were performed on two sides of this pyramid: (i) North-Eastern side, not yet excavated, using satellite data and magnetic prospection; (ii) and Eastern side using GPR to support the ongoing excavation activity. In the North-eastern side, results from the analysis of satellite images allowed the identification of shallow and outcropping adobe (earthen material) walls related to terraced platforms which compose the trunk-pyramidal structure of the Piramide Naranjada. These archaeological features were further investigated by high resolution geomagnetic surveys. The gradiometric maps enabled the identification of magnetic anomalies with different shapes: (i) linear shape features linked to buried, shallow and outcropping walls (the latter two already detected from the optical dataset); (ii) and circular shape anomalies linked to tombs and ceremonial offerings. In the Eastern side, where the excavations are in progress, radargrams allowed the discovery of a rich ceremonial offering made up mainly of ceramics, textiles, and painted pumpkins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides data and analysis from an intensive settlement survey in the southwestern Titicaca Basin. This research was designed to assess the nature of Tiwanaku (AD 600–1100) long-distance trade. The survey area was placed between the prehistoric urban capital of Tiwanaku and its primary colony in Moquegua, a valley located on the Pacific watershed approximately 325km away. The survey was specifically placed in an area where GIS analysis indicated a least-cost transit route between Tiwanaku and Moquegua. Field adjustments to the survey area were made based upon informant data about the historic location of caravan routes. The results of the survey indicate that there is a light but virtually continuous string of Tiwanaku occupation along the trails and roads in the area sampled between Tiwanaku and Moquegua. However, in contrast to the later Inca (AD 1450–1532) period pattern, Tiwanaku did not maintain way stations or build any kind of formal road system. The data indicate that Tiwanaku had indeed relied upon camelid caravans utilizing the least-cost pathways, but it did so in a more decentralized and informal way than the later Inca state. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines skeletal and ancient DNA evidence in the study of suspected tuberculosis infection in the late pre-Hispanic and Colonial-era Lambayeque Valley Complex, north coast Peru (A.D. 900–1750). We integrate information on macroscopic lesion characteristics and distribution, radiographic and CT scan imagery, and analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex rpoB and IS6110 ancient DNA (aDNA) sequences. Destructive lesions were observed in the vertebral bodies of three precontact indigenous adult males, one colonial adolescent female, and in the cranium of a Colonial-period subadult. Assessment of lesion morphology and distribution led us to consider multiple diseases, but tuberculosis represents the most likely diagnostic option in all individuals. DNA was poorly preserved in all samples, but an IS6110 sequence was amplified in one precontact individual consistent with macroscopic diagnosis. These findings expand the geographic and temporal extent of tuberculosis to the late pre-Hispanic and Colonial north coast of Peru to highlight potential synergisms between diet, settlement patterns, and the evolution of Andean tuberculosis before and after European conquest. Moreover, this study helps focus several key questions in Andean tuberculosis research, including possible reassessment of the presence of the IS6110 sequence in the pre-Columbian Americas. Methodological considerations include differential diagnosis – especially with incomplete skeletons – and limitations of aDNA studies underscoring an approach integrating macroscopic, radiographic, and molecular lines of evidence in the paleopathological investigation of one of humankind’s most devastating and destabilizing diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Agricultural research in developing countries has increasingly focused on meeting nutritional objectives. Biofortified varieties and increased use of fertilizers have been studied to improve the nutrient profile of staple foods and thereby reduce micronutrient malnutrition. To understand where and for which crops this is appropriate, a better understanding of population-level consumption patterns is needed. In this paper, we demonstrate an approach to understanding the role of the potato in the Peruvian diet, and how it varies by geographic and socio-economic group. We combine readily available data on household expenditures from a Peruvian living conditions survey (ENAHO) with food composition data to derive estimates on the amount of potatoes consumed per adult equivalent, and the contribution of potatoes to meeting the energy, protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin C needs of Peruvians. Households in the highlands, where potatoes are often the basis of cropping systems, consume the greatest quantities of potatoes, averaging 421g/adult equivalent/day (g/ae/d). In this region, potatoes contribute 18%, 16%, 17%, and 97% of the recommended needs for energy, protein, iron, and vitamin C, respectively. Sensitivity testing using different cultivars previously examined from the Peruvian highlands shows that potatoes could supply a range from 7–31% of the recommended intakes for iron in this population. This work gives support for continuing agricultural research to reduce micronutrient malnutrition and provides guidance for where and with whom such research might have the greatest impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports δ13C and δ15N values for human and animal skeletal remains from the Middle Horizon (AD 550–1000) site of Conchopata in the Peruvian highlands. The data indicate that maize was the dietary staple for both humans and the majority of animals at this urban site. Camelids at the site segregated into two groups according to δ13C values, reflecting two distinct animal management strategies. Human infants were found to have elevated δ15N values, reflecting the trophic level effect of breastfeeding. No sex based differences in diet were observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury has led to the establishment of Peruvian regulations limiting mercury concentrations in air to 2000 ng/m3over a 24-hr measurement period. As a result, three communities in Madre de Dios, Peru were mapped during October 2017 to determine Hg0 vapor concentrations in the air. The town of Tres Islas exhibited Hg0 concentrations less than 200 ng/m3: the minimum risk level defined by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. These low concentrations were reflective of a town in the region with limited exposure to artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). However, the ASGM communities of Laberinto and Delta One exhibited concentrations of Hg0 vapor that exceeded 2,000,000 ng/m3 surrounding active gold shops, where amalgams and processed amalgams were heated with open flames. Laberinto was reevaluated in May 2018 during which time Hg0 levels on the sidewalks in front of gold shops again exceeded 2,000,000 ng/m3. Within the scope of this paper a rapid mapping technique allows for the detection of sources of Hg0 pollution and identifies neighborhoods that require intervention to decrease Hg0 emissions. In addition, this work highlights the difficulties of measuring total gaseous mercury in ASGM communities with gold shops according to the Peruvian law. • Hg0 concentrations were measured and mapped in three towns in Madre de Dios, Peru • Hg0 concentrations exceeding 2,000,000 ng/m3 were measured in and around gold shops • Air Concentrations of Hg0 from ASGM activities greatly exceed Peruvian standards • Existing ventilation and mercury capture systems in gold shops are ineffective • Gold shops in mining communities are a threat to human and environmental health [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Archaeological work was carried out at Cerro Arena in the Moche Valley, Peru. • 14C dating indicates that the site was occupied between ~375 and 360 cal BC. • Cerro Arena was a stronghold built by local leaders during a time of insecurity. • Semi-urban settlement was abandoned before it acquired a truly urban character. • Position of the site in the Salinar-phase valley settlement system remains unclear. The archaeological site of Cerro Arena has often been described as the earliest urban settlement on the Peruvian north coast, but until recently it was unclear when the site was founded, how long it was occupied, and what role it could have played in the regional political system. This paper presents results of survey work, excavations, and radiocarbon dating work carried out at Cerro Arena in 2017. Fieldwork revealed that the site was occupied for a very short period of time (between ~375 and 360 cal BC) and that it likely functioned as a semi-urban defensive settlement. These results raise questions about the urban character of Cerro Arena and the reasons behind its foundation, while also forcing us to problematize anthropological interpretations of urban centers as permanent features and to explore the variable and stochastic nature of early urban settlements in the Andes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Funerary archaeoentomology entails the study of insects from archaeological contexts, in order to examine funerary practices, thanatology and hygiene/sanitation in ancient populations. However, while insects from human mummies have been widely studied, there is a limited literature dealing with archaeoentomology of animal sacrifices. Andean camelid sacrifices are common in ritual contexts, as funerary or foundation offerings. The current paper addresses camelid remains recovered from the archaeological site of Pachacamac, during the 2016 excavation season. The insect fauna was assessed in order to determine the social context of the remains, and the manner in which the camelids were utilised. The carcasses yielded remains pertaining to Diptera and Coleoptera. The presence of Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera, Calliphoridae), Sarcophaga sp. (Diptera, Sarcophagidae) and Synthesiomyia nudiseta (Diptera, Muscidae) suggest an initial colonisation in the open, while other species typical of later phases of the colonisation – including Hydrotaea aenescens (Diptera, Muscidae) and members of the family Phoridae – suggest that the carcasses were subsequently buried. Despite the evident importance of camelids to Andean populations, both historically and archaeologically, this is the first time that entomology has been used to examine animal sacrifice methods in this area, and comprises a watershed in the development of multidisciplinary approaches to sacrificial rites in ancient Peru. • Animal sacrifices play an important role in past culture understanding. • Insects are informative in forensic and archaeological contexts. • This is the first attempt to use insect to explore animal sacrifices in South America. • Fly and beetle remains allowed to test some hypotheses about the sacrifice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]